Just Jo
by GreatDarkNoodleKing
Summary: Brick-House story through Brick's eyes... Because people requested it... The title has signifigance, which I explained on devianartt... Sooo... Yeah... Brick...
1. Chapter 1

**Well, peeps wanted a Brick's POV… So… Uh… I guess, here's the first chapter…of… um…**

**Just Jo -Hey, that's not bad…! I like that…! Sweet! - Episode One- Bigger Badder, Brutal-er!**

I already knew I was auditioning for Total Drama's new season. I had sent in my audition tape three weeks ago. But this morning I had been sent some of the other competitor's audition tapes- I got ones labeled Lightning, Mike, Jo, Cameron, and Anne Maria. I looked at each tape and I muttered to myself, "Only one girl? Hmm… Whatever…"

Playing the tapes, I quickly found that this Lightning guy was a football player… He was athletic, but he seemed kind of arrogant… Mike seemed interesting… I guess… He knocked the camera down, which was pretty funny, although I did feel bad for him, it looked like he got hurt…

I hit play for the one labeled Jo. I blinked, "Oh, Jo's a girl…" I mumbled, looking at the blond figure on the screen. She was blatantly ordering the producers of Total Drama to choose her for the show. And then she told them that they would just give her the money now. I smiled a little as she finished with, "That is all". She seemed intense… She sorta reminded me of my drill sergeant. Only hot… And female… I watched Anne Maria's next and I was shocked when the camera broke at her end. So the two girls I've seen so far couldn't be more opposite…!

After I watched the one labeled Cameron, I read and re-read the labels of the videos. I re-played all of them again, and I still smiled while watching Jo's. Even here at my boot camp there were no girls like that. She was intense! That was the only word I could think to describe her. Anne Maria didn't stand out to me- I had met girls like her back in school… She seemed okay, but… Not very exciting.

Thinking to myself and picking up my duffle bag, I muttered, "I wonder if the others got different videos…" Someone else probably got mine sent to them… I hope I leave a good impression on them… Then I walked out and headed off to the site where a boat was supposedly to pick me up and transport me to Camp Wawanakwa. It showed up, though about ten minutes late… And once I got on, I was knocked down by the girl who I already knew was Anne Maria running upstairs past me. I got back to my feet and I set my stuff inside the ship and then proceeded to walk to the front of the ship.

Mike was standing up there, talking to a girl with red pigtails. They seemed to be getting along pretty well, and I saw Lightning running back and forth across the bow of the ship for no reason- he kept bumping into the girl. I looked up behind me, after hearing what sounded almost like a snake, and I saw it was Anne Maria, spraying her hair… Mm… 'Kay then…

The boat stopped at a pier, and two kids hopped on board. One of them was a freckled boy with red hair. I certainly wasn't sent his audition! He looked like he was from the country, were the producers sure he lived in Canada? My thoughts were interrupted by the blond girl walking onto the ship. She introduced herself as Dakota- she sure was pretty! She looked like a television supermodel in training…!

The boat then went forward some more, and I began to get very very bored. Everyone was talking to someone else… It seemed like I was just kinda there… The next pier we stopped at brought us three kids… One really big guy with an orange hat, who didn't say anything to any of us, a chubby boy with curly hair named Sam, and an extremely pale girl with white blond hair. She practically floated she seemed so graceful, and she immediately said hi to me. I smiled happily- at least someone here was nice enough to do so…

"Your aura is exceptionally well rounded, minus a few flaws," she said to me with an innocent smile.

I blinked a few times; aura? Sheepishly, I replied, "Thanks…" She nodded and sat on the railing of the boat next to the silent boy. Well that was weird…

Our last pier we stopped at let on two kids, Cameron and Jo. I knew both of them and recognized them instantly. It was great to know people I've never met before- the contradiction of it all made the whole thing hilariously funny. Cameron looked around nervously, and Jo pushed past him to get to the front of the boat. I smiled at her as she walked by, but she was frowning at the ground, and didn't notice. I pouted at being ignored, but I quickly went up to the tiny boy named Cameron and I greeted him. He seemed overjoyed to have someone talking to him, but once the boat started up again, he said he wanted to go up top and see the sights. I didn't want to; I wanted to go to the front of the ship…

Jo was all the way in the front of the boat now, standing next to the red-head. I frowned and stood a little ways behind the girl with red pigtails. I heard chatter behind me, and when I looked I was surprised I had missed a girl with a ribbon in her hair that wouldn't stop talking up top. She was so chatty, how had I not noticed her? Didn't matter at the moment, because suddenly the red haired girl was knocked into my arms.

Faintly in the distance I heard someone announcing my name, so I instinctively saluted and announced, "Brick McArthur, reporting for duty!" In the act, I had dropped the girl, and right after, I quickly apologized and helped her back to her feet.

"Thanks," she said with a grateful smile, "My name's Zoey, by the way."

I saluted her and said with a smile, "Brick. Pleasure to meet you, soldier…!" She giggled at me calling her soldier, and then her attention returned to Mike. I saw instantly that she liked him; and judging from the shimmering of his eyes, he liked her too. Well, one couple has already developed and we're not even on the island…!

And then suddenly the boat exploded, sending everyone flying in every direction into the water. Immediately I resurfaced, and I looked around before starting to swim toward shore. I was going at a steady pace for a while, until I heard shouting. "Triathlete comin' through!" I only heard that before I saw the blond haired Jo flipping through the air. I literally froze and stared in absolute amazement as she flew through the air and dove back into the water without so much as a droplet of water in a splash. When I started to sink a little was when I realized I needed to keep swimming, so I began swimming as fast as I could toward the shore, toward that incredible girl. Okay, so maybe I thought she was more than intense, maybe I thought she was some sort of physical goddess of war or something. Either way, I wanted to get to know her better- she was like no one I had ever seen!

Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated how tired my arms and legs would be swimming through this. I ended up crawling onto the shore, saluting to Jo, and Dawn, and saying softly, "Ma'am." Before collapsing onto the sand. Everything hurt- that explosion had done some damage, and I hadn't noticed until just now. Then I heard coughing and spluttering, and when I looked back up, my jaw fell open as I saw Cameron standing on the silent boy's shoulders, each drenched with water. But he was just standing on him, wait, he was on his head! My face fell even more into an expression of pure shock.

Jo started walking away, and I hurried to my feet. Everyone else from the boat was arriving, and I wanted to be near her when they did. So as she ran her fingers through her messy hair, I walked over and a little ways away from her. She looked at me funny when I sat near her on a rock- I hope she doesn't think I'm weird… She looked away for a moment, and the red-headed boy introduced himself to me as Scott.

Chris's voice boomed over a loud speaker near us, saying our first task was to race through the woods. He made a note not to disturb the wildlife. Lightning made a comment about not upsetting the bunnies, and then an air horn went off over the loud speaker. And then suddenly an ear-piercing roar echoed over the island, and trees began falling. They looked like they were getting closer! Time to haul ass outta here!

Everyone ran as quickly as they could away and into the woods. Jo began speeding ahead toward the front of the group and I was shocked by how fast she was. Sheesh, an amazing swimmer, and a speed sprinter? If she pulled out any more of these amazing physical feats I think I may have to call the CIA and tell them we have a superhuman among us. Even Eva from last season wasn't like this! Sure, she was strong, but Jo had skill! I hurried after her, but unfortunately I wasn't as fast as she was. Lightning seemed to be able to keep up with her, but I wasn't that fast! She looked back at the rest of the group at one point, and she looked surprised when she saw how close I was to her, and Scott too. We were closest next to Lightning. But once she saw us, she began booking it. I tried desperately to keep up, but there was no way I was that fast!

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, but Scott still finished ahead of me. Chris addressed me instantly, "Corporal Brick-House!" he shouted, saluting me as I gasped for air and clutched my knees, "Team B…!"

I stood erect and saluted, shouting on instinct and reflex, "Sir, yes sir!" But before I could make a move, I was knocked to the ground by the silent boy. Chris told him he was on team A, and he didn't move. Getting, up, I looked and saw Jo standing by herself a little to Chris's left near a tree. So she was team B! Did that mean Lightning beat her here? I walked over to her, smiling warmly, hoping to make a good impression on this athlete the likes of which the world would never see again.

Jo scowled at me. Why was she mad at me? What had I done? I stood right beside her, and then Cameron hurried over to where we were, but he stood a little ways away from me and her. Mike and Zoey ended up on our team, and then so did Anne Maria. I smiled- my team was made up entirely of people that I knew! This would be pretty easy…

Scott then ran to Chris and asked what the thing in the forest was. Cameron near me said, "I'm pretty sure that cry doesn't belong to any known animal species!" I glanced at Jo again, remaining silent. She had a strong chin… And really pretty purple eyes… I had never seen purple eyes before… Violet… Pretty…

I exchanged a nervous glance with Jo as Chris laughed like an evil super villain- this didn't look good…! What was he going to do to us? She looked confused and nervous, as I'm sure we all did. None of us were prepared for Chris and his madness…

Chris announced to us what our team names would be, he said we were the Mutant Maggots and the others were the Toxic Rats. Almost immediately Mike asked what the references to Toxic waste were about, but as he asked, my gaze drifted back to the blond girl standing beside me with her arms folded across her chest. She noticed, and frowned at me. I felt embarrassed for having been staring, and I quickly looked back at Chris, who was laughing maniacally. … My mind was brought back to terror when trees were collapsing and the roaring was upon us again. And then a tiny naked squirrel hopped out of a nearby bush.

"Hey, it's just a stupid squirrel!" Jo beside me shouted, sounding annoyed. I just looked at the squirrel- why did it not have fur? Why were its eyes yellow? OH MY GOD! I flinched when I saw it blink its eyes sideways. Dakota shrieked when it did, and Dawn asked what was wrong with it.

Chris explained he rented the island out to a hazardous waste disposal company. "Sweet people," he said with a smirk, "But the waste is having a teensy bit of an impact on the flora and fauna…" Dakota approached the creature and it roared at her and shot lasers from its eyes. She ran away screaming, and she jumped into the chubby boy's arms. He looked like he was in heaven when she did- obviously he liked her. She was really really pretty.

"Now for some rewards," Chris said, ignoring the subject of the fact that he was laughing at us. He turned to my team, and he said happily, "Jo, because you made it up here before anyone else," So she had been first! I had a feeling she was… She had kept a good distance ahead of Lightning through the whole race… "Your team gets a trampoline..!" Chef was bouncing on our trampoline. It was kinda weird… And Chris announced, "The Rats get a hack saw…!" And then Chef fell on the ground, dropping the saw.

Lightning laughed at Chef, who threw the saw at him, and Jo laughed at Lightning, and the trampoline came out of nowhere and ran her over like a car. She grumbled in pain and I felt bad instantly. I quickly grabbed hold of her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. She looked at me, and I asked worriedly, "Are you alright ma'am?" That had looked painful!

She shoved me away, and grumbled, "I'm fine, and I don't need your help…" I blinked- she seemed angry with me. What did I do?

Chris announced that we'd find out if he'd blow us up again after the break, and I realized it was for TV… Commercials… Once that was done, he grumbled, "Alright, follow me to where your next challenge starts…" He led the way, but I stayed by Jo as we all walked.

Chris led us to totems hanging above us and he said we needed to cut them down. Jo immediately jumped off a rock, shouting energetically, "Yeah, let's do this!" But she went flying into the nearby river. Chris told us we had to ride the totems down the river to the cabins… Mmmhmm… How exactly would this work…? This trampoline seemed rigged…

Cameron began calculating to himself, muttering about Jo hitting the trampoline with 50 pounds per square inch, when Anne Maria pushed him to the ground, growling, "Outta the way, I want a crack at this…"

"But I calculated for Jo's weight!" he whimpered, hopping back to his feet. She really should've listened. As soon as she jumped, she went straight into the totem, slamming into it headfirst. And she flew back down, but bounced back up. And she did this again and again and again and again. Finally Jo just kicked the trampoline out of the way and Anne Maria slammed into the ground one last time, and stayed there. I felt bad for her…

But I looked at Jo, and she was already moving the trampoline back into place. I grinned excitedly- this looked like it could be fun if I didn't get killed. I climbed onto the rock, and waited for the trampoline to be back in place. As soon as it was, I jumped, shouting, "Charge!" I grabbed hold of an axe lodged in the bottom of the totem, but then I felt the horrible sensation of not having anything beneath my feet and fear flowed through my veins. I started screaming for help and flailing my legs, trying to find some sort of support. Nobody understands feeling suspended in the air with no way down until it happens to them. I swallowed and looked back down at Jo. She had her arms folded across her chest and she was scowling at me.

Swallowing, I immediately felt determined to show her what I was made of. I adjusted myself and used the totem as the surface under my feet, and I began trying to pry the axe free by pushing against the totem with my feet. My dog tags hit the back of my neck once I was upside down, and I sort of wished I didn't have them for a brief moment… The axe was really lodged in that stupid carving! No matter how hard I pulled on it, the thing wouldn't budge!

And then I heard scurrying, and when I turned my head around, I was mortified to find another naked squirrel on the branch right beside me. Immediately I tried to get it to leave. "Ahh, shoo! G-go away!" It roared at me and I screamed in fear- if this one had laser eyes, too, I was basically dead… And then suddenly… a rock? A rock. A rock flew into the squirrel's face and it began firing lasers down at my team. I heard screaming and I could see Cameron sprinting away as fast as he could. But my attention quickly returned to the evil creature before me.

It noticed me again and began firing at me. I dropped, pulled my legs back up, screamed, and shouted, gripping the axe tightly, "Not the crew cut!" The lasers fired and hit the axe, reflecting their path up to the branch that our totem was tied to and slicing straight through it. The whole totem fell to the ground, as I clutched the wooden maggot, and screamed. I slammed into the ground beside the totem. I blinked a few times- surprised to be in one piece.

Looking behind me, I smiled to find Jo had run up behind me and was happy with me. She had whispered 'yes' and I felt so proud. I had impressed the Olympian! That was an accomplishment! I saluted excitedly and said, "Mission accomplished." And the next thing I knew the totem collapsed on top of me.

It hurt like absolute hell, but I tried not to complain ever, so I just hoped my team would help me. I felt the weight lifting, and happily I saw all my teammates lifting the totem off of me. Once I got free, I stood up and grumbled, rubbing my now very bruised chest, "Thanks…" Jo didn't waste time pushing the totem toward the river. She was doing a pretty good job of it by herself, but she obviously couldn't do it alone. We all hopped forward and began pushing the massive totem. It got to the water, and with a few last shoves we all hopped onto it. I sat right behind Jo, Anne Maria behind me, and Cameron behind her. And then there was Mike and Zoey… In the back…

The Rats had gotten into the water, and Jo shouted, scowling at them, "They're gaining on us!" I was looking ahead and I swallowed at what I saw. The edge of the river. And no continuation.

"It's my duty ma'am to inform you that we have bigger problems," I said, pointing ahead for Jo. She turned her head around and gasped.

Cameron squeaked from behind me, "My first waterfall!" As we approached, I thought of jumping off, but this was probably the safest place to be. I looked at the back of Jo's head as we got ever closer to the edge- maybe I should hold onto her? What if she fell off? She'd get killed instantly! I was hesitant, though, and didn't do anything before we plummeted forward off the waterfall. We skidded across the hill below the water, and we continued speeding down, destroying dirt and earth beneath us.

As we sped, the other team sped past us, and Jo spat angrily, "Hey! How'd they get in front of us?" She looked royally pissed. Maybe I should avoid her…But she's so cool! I wanna see what else she can do…! Maybe I'll just try not to make her mad…

Once we cleared the brush, our totem went flying straight out; at such a speed we all fell scattered on the ground. Our totem exploded, and the ringing in my ears afterwards was terrible. My whole body hurt something awful right now… Not only my entire front being bruised thanks to our totem, but now everywhere else was sore from falling. Chris announced that we won, as we were the only ones with a cabin still standing. I was on my hands and knees, and I groaned somewhat happily, lifting my arm into the air, before collapsing back onto the ground.

I felt a tugging at my shirt. "At attention, soldier," I heard a very stern voice say. It sounded almost like my drill sergeant… I thought I was at Total Drama Island… I don't understand… I stood up; blinking my eyes open and I realized the one who had told me to get up was Jo. She went over to Ann Maria, and I noticed that she had a slight limp. Had she gotten hurt? I watched as she forced her groaning teammate to her feet, and I smiled- determined to make us all stay alive. Jo was difficult to get a read on… On minute she's terrifyingly angry, the next she's being sweet and picking Cameron up in her arms… Wait… What…?

Jo was carrying Cameron bridal style into the cabin. Apparently he had sprained both his ankles. But for some reason, seeing her carrying him made me feel queasy. Or maybe it was my inner bleeding… Probably the latter…

She took the small boy into the cabin- the boy's side- and then walked back out and went into the girls' side to determine bunking. I glanced nervously at the other two girls as they walked in after her, and then I went into our side of the cabin. Cameron was lying on his bottom bunk to the right, and he was groaning. I smiled in sympathy, and I said, "Hey Cam, don't worry… You'll feel better after a good night's sleep…"

"Tell that to my Achilles tendon… I think it might've torn…" he grumbled, rubbing his head weakly.

I smiled again and went to his side. Mike came in and I said to Cameron, "If that were the case you'd bleed out in seconds… Besides, I don't think Jo would let you die…"

"Maybe…" Mike said behind me. I turned around and gave him a quizzical look. He held out a hand and said, "I watched her audition tape. She seems like she'll only do whatever it takes to win… She probably only helped us today because we're on her team…"

I frowned- he certainly seemed quick to judge. Cameron behind me commented, "She seems okay so far… But I prefer talking to Zoey… She seems kinder…" Mike and he began talking about Zoey- apparently Cameron had watched her audition. This was boring me, so I went outside the cabin.

I smiled instantly when I saw Jo sitting on the steps of the cabin. She rolled her eyes at me, but I didn't really mind. I watched her for a minute before looking up and seeing the other team. I walked up behind Jo and asked curiously, "So who'd they vote off?"

She was resting her head on her hand and she muttered, "Looks like Chatty…" I stood there, watching the other team for a little while. Now that I thought about it, with Staci gone, basically all of the girls here were absolutely gorgeous. Dakota was a Barbie doll, Zoey was thin, but attractive in her own way, Dawn was so light and graceful she was like a flower blossom, Anne Maria was shorter and stouter, but she knew how to make herself look good… And then Jo…

I looked at her, and I smiled instantly to see that she was staring at me already! We sat there and stared at each other for a little while. Jo was attractive in her own way too, I guess. I mean, she's already like some super-human…! But her eyes were definitely pretty, and she had nice cheekbones, and a firm, strong chin… And her dirty blond hair that hung just above her shoulders fit her perfectly. She looked fit, too. She wasn't as skinny as Zoey or Dawn, but I had a feeling that under that sweater of hers there was a beautiful set of abs gracing her stomach. I blinked at my own thoughts. I was describing Jo like some sort of work of art… She wasn't even as pretty as Dakota was…. But… As she got up and went back inside the cabin, I felt like there was something about her that was so much better than what Dakota could ever offer me…

"Wow, she's got a nice butt…" I mumbled to myself just as she walked inside. She probably worked out enough to have every muscle toned to perfection… Probably why her butt was so awesome… I blinked and turned, looking at my own backside. Was my butt that toned? I worked out a lot…! Hmm…

After standing outside for a little while, I smiled to myself and went back inside the cabin. I climbed onto my bunk, plugging in the night-light tank I had, and then going to sleep. Today hadn't been so bad… I had met a really incredible girl… And I had started making some new friends…

**Um… Well… That was… Um… Yeah… I don't really know how to describe this…**

**I feel like Brick's so out of character…! GAH! I'm not good with military guys…! He'll be more in character as the story goes on, I promise! And I fixed up my mistake in this episode! (The order of questions and squirrels…)**

**And I'm gonna fix the events in the following chapters… And then Brick's going to be the adorkable cadet we all know and love! I promise! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE THIS STORY JUST BECAUSE THE FIRST CHAPTER SUCKED! YOU GUYS ASKED FOR THIS!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh, gee… Well, in this I'll be fixing all my mistakes from Brick-House… More quotes and scenes that I missed…**

**Just Jo- **Episode Two- Truth or Lasershark

The very next morning after getting on the island, after waking up to my alarm and scaring Cameron half to death, I hurried over to the confessional. Seeing as how yesterday I was in too much pain to do even basic tasks, I figured I could try it out now…

I stepped inside the tiny space and I sat down and looked around for a few moments… "Well, uh… Let's see… This is for yesterday… So… Well, I'll just start…" I paused, then I began, "I may be the strongest player here, but I'm all about the teamwork. Back in cadet's I took the teamwork medal three years running. Also the bed making medal, the flag folding medal, and the letters home to mom medal!" Smiling, I commented, "I always win that one… Mom always has me write to her. And I don't mind. My mom deserves to know that I'm alright… Can I write her here?" I scanned the camera, hoping that maybe Chris was listening, or an editor would help me. But I got nothing, so I stayed where I was and I thought for a little while.

"Going for my morning run today… You know, as the only soldier here with any military training, I've definitely got a winning edge," I said, grinning, then pausing with one single thought, "My biggest competition is probably Jo… He-yeah, good thing we're on the same team! Like my drill sergeant always says, 'keep your friends close and your rivals closer', no no," I was second guessing myself. Was that what he said? "I did that wrong… Keep your family close and your enemy at arm's length… No, no… Hang on… Oh, what was it…? Um… Was it keep your loved ones close and your enemy closer…? Oh, I can't remember… I need to go run anyway…" And I got up and went outside to run. Every morning I ran 8k.

At one point while I ran, every morning for the next few days, I swore I saw Jo at some point, just out in the woods. What was she doing out in the woods by herself? Especially on this island… Mutant creatures everywhere….

I think today, after at least three days having gone by, and I had learned that Chef's food wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be, was a challenge day. There was a cameraman following me as I ran, so I definitely think today was a challenge day. I had never been followed before.

I put him out of my mind, and I ran with my heart in every step. I closed my eyes at one point and I envisioned running with my friends from cadets. I pushed myself harder, I was at the very end, I wanted to finish strong.

And then suddenly I slammed into something, which shouted "ow" just like I did, and I fell backwards with a thud. I rubbed my head, grimacing with slight pain. My bruises had begun fading after these few days, but not everything was healed yet… That had hurt…! I opened my eyes to find that I had run straight into Jo.

She exhaled, and spoke, "Just did my morning 5k run, you?"

I grinned at her, removing my hand from my head, and I pointed at her, saying, "8k…!"

She jumped to her feet instantly, and she quickly retorted, "I mean I did an 8k warm-up, then 5k at a FULL SPRINT." She was really emphasizing full sprint. To be honest, I was already impressed by the fact that she ran every morning too. I didn't need to be better than her, but I felt compelled to keep the battle going.

"My entire run was uphill!" I quickly said back to her, jumping up closer to her and pointing in her face as I did. It was weird, I knew that after 5k I'd be at least a little sweaty on the best days, and if I wore a sweat suit like she did, I would've been drenched in this heat! She didn't even look tired! Much less smell like sweat…!

She laughed a little at me as she retorted, "Yeah, uphill with my eyes shut…!"

Mm. Okay, Brick, think of a comeback. Ignore the fact that she's a girl. Focus. "I ran backwards with earplugs!" GAH! Stupid! What kind of comeback was that? Idiot!

She asked immediately, "Why earplugs?"

My brain felt dead. I just shouted to her, "I dunno!" Why? Why did my brain go all stupid? I had talked to Jo a few times before this, and every time I did my brain just failed me…! Either she was just really good at thinking up insults, or I just couldn't think of anything that would actually insult her… She was incredible! The most physically fit person I've ever met- incredible, unbelievable, awe-inspiring, beautiful; how do you insult someone who's that great?

"Team Maggot is lucky to have us," she said to me, bringing my stupid brain back into working position, "WE won the challenge yesterday. WE'LL carry them all the way to victory…" I looked down as she said that- she was touching my chest. Why was she touching me? I looked her in the eyes and I felt like my face was burning up. Jo sure was pretty… Maybe not like Dakota, Dawn, or Zoey, but she was pretty… And I think the fact that I knew she was pretty made me even more nervous just to be standing near her. How could anyone be a physical god and be attractive? She was definitely a competitor everyone here should be watching out for.

She took her hand off me and stomped away. I think she was angry about something. I turned my head to watch her walk off, and I wondered why she was so angry. Maybe she was just serious… Serious girls always seemed bitchy at first, but usually they were just determined… Oh yeah, that's right, in her audition tape she was ordering the producers to give her the money- obviously she just wanted to win. Victory seemed important to her… As seen by my horrible moment of poo brain…

I wandered around for a little while after that moment with Jo, and I ran into Dawn almost immediately afterwards. "How has your morning been?" I asked her, hoping that the fact we were on opposite teams wouldn't stop us from being friends…

She smiled back and replied, "Oh, wonderful! I had a brilliant conversation with the birds!" I blinked- did she just say birds? That was a little strange… She then asked, "How have your chats with Jo been going?"

I was a little surprised by the question, but I responded, "Alright, I guess… My other teammates have been easier to get close to, you know? Jo seems pretty walled-in on herself…" I meant every word- Cameron had been excited to be friends with me, especially when I offered to teach him how to swim sometime. Mike was easy to talk to, as long as you didn't ask him about Chester. Once Chester was the subject he'd basically shut down and his brain would turn stupid. And Zoey was willing to make friends with everyone and anyone, so she was ecstatic whenever I talked to her. Anne Maria even opened up to me more than Jo did!

"Oh, you just have to give her some time, I'm sure," Dawn told me with a smile, "Her aura is basically translucent- she doesn't want people knowing her emotions."

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, she just thinks that emotions are weaknesses," Dawn said as if it were nothing important at all, "Oh, and she doesn't trust boys because she thinks they're only trying to use her and hurt her."

She had begun walking away, so I hurried after her and I asked, "Why would she think that? I wouldn't try to hurt her for my own gain!"

Dawn smiled. "Oh, I can see that, it's all over your aura that you've been raised to be kind to others…" I blinked. How on Earth…? "And Jo's all over your aura too."

I froze. "What's that mean?" I asked, really getting confused now. Dawn didn't respond before I heard Chris shouting over the speakers. I hurried back to the cabins with my team, and I quickly ran to Jo's side. She glanced at me, I smiled a little bit, now worried by what Dawn had said, and she returned her gaze to Chris. I looked to our host eagerly- hoping today's challenge would be something fun.

He said it was challenge time, and Lightning immediately shouted, "But Lightning hasn't had his DPA!" I looked to my teammates; hoping one of them might know what that meant… But Cameron looked just as bewildered as I did, Anne Maria wasn't listening, and Mike and Zoey were looking to each other for help. Jo just stood, looking at Chris.

Dakota said she didn't get enough sleep, and I actually did feel bad when I saw how red her eyes were. It probably took her a while just to get used to those beds. I found them pretty comfortable, compared to other places I've had to sleep before, but they definitely weren't the best beds…

Chris took us with him to the Bay of Dismay as he called it, and I happily began walking with the rest of the campers. I headed straight to the front- it was where I was used to walking. I saw people around me, but I was surprised to not see a familiar head of blond hair. Where was Jo? She always had to be first. Why wasn't she in the front of the line?

Looking back, I saw Jo walking next to Cameron. It looked like she was being mean to him; I could only guess that because Cameron looked depressed. I didn't think too much more on it, and I continued walking with the group.

Chris finally brought us to a strange pair of bleachers, and Anne Maria practically ran to be in the top row of ours. Jo walked after the tanned girl, and I quickly followed her. She climbed onto the metal stand with ease and she buckled herself into the middle seat. I sat down next to her, and I watched as she looked around.

When her eyes landed on me, I smiled hopefully. She frowned at me, and I knew she still wasn't warming up to me. "You weren't in the front this time," I said gently to her. It was all I could think to say. I looked at her as she scowled at me. I buckled myself in and then Chris began talking to us.

"Welcome to the getting to know you trivia game challenge!" he announced happily. He asked if we were strapped in nice and snug, and I had to admit my harness was actually really tight… Scott said his was cutting into his shoulders. "Yeah, children sized harnesses will do that," Chris responded with an evil chuckle. Sheesh… Chris began explaining the rules. He said he'd be asking embarrassing personal questions. "If the player I'm talking about hits the poorly wired buzzer and owns their humiliation before the time runs out, their team gets a point. First team to five wins part one, and a distinct advantage in part two." He explained. I wasn't sure if I was excited about this or nervous.

"If no one owns up, this happens!" he said, pressing a button, and then I found myself underwater. My whole team's bleacher had been submerged! At first it was just annoying, cold, and strenuous, then a shark creature with legs showed up and it became horrifying!

We were brought back to the surface, where everyone gasped and choked for air, and Mike screamed about the shark monster. Chris reacted in a way that made me question why I had wanted to join this show. "You mean Fang? Heh heh, yeah, it turns out toxic waste can mess with stuff underwater too!"

Chris dunked the Rats under after that, and he began asking questions, starting with them. "To the Rats, now listen carefully, who did this on the one and only date they ever had?" Chris asked, pointing to a board above him. A question mark appeared, and then the mark farted incredibly loudly. I giggled a bit at that- it was kinda funny to hear that someone had done that.

Sam hit the buzzer. Mm… Well, that must be hard to do…

Now it was our turn. Chris turned to us. "Who wet their pants on the first AND last day of school?" I think all the color drained from my face in that split second. How did he find out about that? Oh... I was a cadet, and now everyone knew about that? I had been hoping to seem tough here…! I didn't want Jo finding some way to… Wait… Jo was on my team- what could she do? She'd want to help me… Not hurt me… Right…? Oh… What if everyone thought I was a loser?

Suddenly a voice broke me from my terror stricken thoughts. "He who sweats it, wets it," it was Jo. I looked at her, basically pleading with her not to make me do this, but she scowled at me and stated blandly, "Team before pride maggot."

I swallowed and pressed the buzzer. It shocked me when I did, and I winced back, saying, "Ow! Fine, it was me…!" Everyone began laughing, and now I knew exactly how Sam felt. I shrunk down in my seat, hiding behind the bleacher. Cadets were supposed to be strong and intimidating! But wetting your pants in high school? It wasn't my fault I had bladder control issues! It ran in my family! Oh, but nobody knew that, so all everyone else saw was a big baby… GAH! My life is over…!

"Aw, thanks Brick," Zoey was talking to me from in front of me, "I know that must've been tough…" I felt a little better to know that at least someone thought it was brave to answer. I sat up a little bit more and I tried to regain myself as this went on.

"Rats, whose real name is actually… Beverly…?" Chris asked.

I jumped up, embarrassment and anger mixing as I spat, "That's not an embarrassing question! Who cares if a girl's real name is Beverly?" This was so unfair! I get asked the most personal humiliating question ever, and all they get is that?

B hit the buzzer on his side, but didn't speak. Chris dunked them for that because apparently he wanted them to talk. Scott swam back up after they resurfaced, which was interesting. What had happened to him? He told his team they could win without him, and Anne Maria began agreeing, and trying to take off her harness. "If he's not playin' then I'm not eithah…" she said.

Sam asked, "Since I've already been humiliated, can I go?"

And Mike hopped up in his seat, standing and saying, "I'm with Anne Maria! We should stop…!" then he laughed nervously and said, "Not that I've got any secrets to hide…!"

"Sit DOWN Pointy…!" Jo snarled beside me, smacking Mike as hard as she could and knocking him back down. "I'm not losing this game…!" I was really shocked by the force she had to have hit Mike with. To send him into the bleachers with a thud that loud…!

"Woah," Zoey quickly said, "Take it easy…!" And everyone started fighting. Chris was getting annoyed and Scott said he was leaving. But before he could, Chris dunked us again. I thought this would be another quick punishment, but after at least thirty seconds, I knew he wasn't letting us back up.

Jo unhooked herself, Mike and Zoey unhooked themselves, and I released my harness and swam up to the surface with my team. I looked around as I saw Anne Maria come up, and I quickly asked, "Where's Jo and Cameron?" Nobody knew, everyone else was trying to regain their breath. So I took in a deep breath and I dove back under. Jo was letting Cameron out of his harness. He got out, and flailed desperately up towards me. It was against my cadet code to leave a man behind, so I swam down to help him up. I pushed him upwards, but when I didn't see Jo swimming past us, I looked back down. I saw her jerking her leg, and I knew instantly that she was stuck. I gave Cameron one last push up toward Zoey, who I knew would help him, and I swam down to Jo.

I began pulling at her arm. She looked at me, and I began pulling as hard as I could under the water until the tension released, and Jo's leg was freed. We swam up to the surface, following the still struggling Cameron, and once we surfaced, everyone was gasping for air and Cameron was trying to hold onto Zoey for dear life. I looked at everyone, treading water and trying to regain my breath. Everyone was here- so that meant that nobody was going to drown. Good.

Suddenly the bleacher came back up, Chris must've pressed the button, and it slammed into all of us with such force that if a corner were to hit you, the cut would've been at least deep enough to pierce the skin and draw a fair amount of blood. I was slammed by the benches we had been on before, but I fell into the area where our feet had rested, and then I felt someone else slam into the top of me- it all hurt so bad, I closed my eyes for a split second. I opened my eyes, though, quickly, and found it had been Jo who had fallen on me, and then obviously someone fell on her, because as she started getting back up, she had been shoved back down with a considerable amount of force.

I think it was Anne Maria who had fallen on Jo. It looked like her hair… Jo pushed herself up again, snarling, "Get offa me, you idiot!" She was trying to lift herself up, along with Anne Maria, but her hands kept slipping on the wet metal, and she kept falling into me again. I knew I needed to help. So I grabbed Jo's wrists, which were actually pretty small for how muscular I'm sure she was, and I held her in place so she was able to push in one set direction.

I was staring up at her as she did, and I still couldn't help but be amazed. Pushing herself and another girl up off of her, while they were both soaking wet and weighed down… It was breathtaking..! And then I actually looked at Jo while she accomplished a difficult task. Her hair looked really neat when it was wet… When she opened her eyes, I inhaled sharply, seeing those violet irises looking right at me. I felt like my hands were shaking.

She scowled at me and wrenched her hands away from me before standing up and twisting her leg around. I was surprised. She had done that while her leg was twisted backwards? Hadn't that hurt? "Are you alright?" I asked, looking at her leg, which cracked loudly as she moved it.

Jo rubbed her arm, frowning, and she replied, "I'm fine Brick-House…" I felt a little bit of embarrassment as she called me Brick-House. It made me feel more important to hear her give me a nickname like that… "Thank you for helping me earlier…"

Dost mine ears deceive me? I couldn't believe it! Jo had just thanked me for helping her! Had she really said anything nice like that yet? I smiled happily at her.

Suddenly she was right in my face, pointing and snapping, "Don't get used to me being nice! It'll never happen again!" I blinked and swallowed at her threat, but I nodded.

Jo may act like a terrible person, but I had just learned one thing- she was willing to acknowledge some form of kindness. Plus, she had once again saved her teammates! She hadn't let Cameron drown! She had gone and saved him! Mike and Cameron had to be wrong. Jo had a heart. She had to…!

Chris let us back on shore, saying nobody got an advantage in the next challenge, and I walked with Jo and Cameron up in the front of the group. Cameron was walking the closest to Jo, but I was trying to keep close to her as well. It was col hanging out with Jo. It made you feel awesome just being around the triathlete.

"I'm glad Chris didn't get to ask me anything," Cameron said, smiling sheepishly at everyone.

Jo then asked, with a smirk, "Lemme guess, who needs their diaper changed?"

Cameron immediately whimpered back, "I haven't worn diapers since I was eleven!"

Jo started laughing, so I quickly whispered to the little guy, "The challenge is over, you don't have to keep humiliating yourself…"

"No, please, do go on. Or does baby need his bottle?" Jo teased. I looked at Cameron, and he looked absolutely heartbroken. I found that a little odd. He should've seen it coming… After all, Jo did smack Mike into the bleachers… She had been nice enough to save him, though, so maybe that was why he was being so open… He thought she cared more about him than she originally let on… I think she did, but she probably didn't want anyone to really know that…

Chris took us to our next challenge and he explained that we'd be competing in an obstacle course. He was forcing us to wear glasses while we did, and Jo tried them on immediately. "What's with the gramma glasses? We won't be able to see anything in these…"

"That's kinda the deal," Chris said in response. He told us each where we'd be going. Jo was sent to the section after me, and I hoped that this would go better than the first challenge had. The challenge was to pass our team mascot around and across the course fastest. Ours was a maggot. And once it got to me, I was certain that I'd have preferred any other mascot.

I started running forward with the maggot, but I not being able to see made it incredibly difficult to do anything. I kept running into something, I think it was a pole, but I couldn't figure out how to get around it because I just couldn't see it…! And once I was around it, I suddenly felt a horrible pain as a cannonball slammed into my face. As if I wasn't already in enough pain…

I fell to the ground, still holding the maggot, and I tried to regain myself. Everything was spinning. When I opened my eyes, I could see a little bit, though everything was extremely blurry, and there were faded duplicates of everything I saw. As I looked ahead, I could hear things, but what I heard was fuzzy… I saw gray… Legs… I saw green… I kept hearing someone shouting… "Um on" Um on? What's that mean? I don't get it… Lifting my head up to look ahead of me, I saw three Jo's standing at the end of my section of the obstacle course. I smiled and wondered when Jo had sisters… The three Jo's were spinning in circles, but not moving their legs… Coooool… I tried to move toward the three Jo's. I wanted to ask how they were doing that. It was neat… I wanna spin without moving…

As I got closer to the Jo's, they began merging into one solid Jo. Wow… Was Jo a superhero…? Can she duplicate herself…? Haha… Jo looks mad… Pretty angry Jo with three sisters… I felt a nipping at my back and I found what looked like an ugly green cat. Maybe this cat was Jo's… Is that why's she's yelling at me? Does she want her cat back? Silly kitty, running away from Jo… Jo's gonna be mad at you, cat…

I moved toward her, and I handed the critter to her, saying happily, "Here's your cat…!" And then I fell back down and everything went fuzzy, then everything faded to black. When I woke up, I found Chris was pulling me to my feet, and telling me that blacking out was not why people watched TV.

"What happened?" I asked, rubbing my head, which was extremely sore. The glasses fell off of my head, completely shattered.

Chris frowned at me and said, "You were making the show boring, now go stand over here…" He then made me stand with Sam, Anne Maria, and Lightning, who were each covered in mud, except Anne Maria. B came over to where we were afterwards, along with Jo and Scott. We all watched Cameron as he completed the last leg of the challenge and won it for us. I walked back to the cabins with everyone else. I walked next to Jo as best I could- I was really wobbly. She helped stopped me from falling a few times, but she wouldn't really help me walk.

"My head's killing me…" I grumbled as we made our way back. She didn't really say anything to that, she just walked to the bathroom and I went to the mess hall. I asked Chef if he had any ice. He gave me a huge block of it, but I accepted it gladly. I took the ice and I relaxed on it for a long time. Eventually it helped alleviate the throbbing of my head and face.

When the ice finally melted, I sat outside on the steps of our cabin. I stayed there until it was time for us all to eat. I went inside and immediately I noticed Jo was gone. "Where's Jo?" I asked, looking at the others.

"Ah, she took a giant body bag into the woods, or sumthin'," Anne Maria said, walking past me, waving her hand as if it was no big deal. But hearing that made me nervous.

"Jo killed someone?" Cameron squeaked next to me. I blinked- the little guy had snuck up out of nowhere.

Lightning then spoke, "Nah, man, Jo filled the sack with sand… It's probably a punching bag…" That made more sense…

I sat and ate my food, but as it got later, I began to worry that Jo might not get anything to eat. People began leaving, and I asked, "Should we save her something?"

Cameron looked like he was going to agree with me, but Mike spoke up, "She'd probably shove it in your face if you did…" I felt dejected, but it was definitely true. Jo didn't really seem to like me much… It was kinda disappointing… I liked Jo… She was a really incredible person… And I'd really like to get to know her better…

Everyone left, and we all went back to our cabins. Cameron and I started talking about earlier, and he seemed upset by how Jo had insulted him. I couldn't do much to comfort him, but… Well… I dunno…

"Brick…?" Cameron whispered so softly I had to stop breathing to hear him, "Do you… do you uh… Do you like Jo…?"

I blinked a few times, and then I felt my face go red. "Well, I uh… I…" I didn't really have an answer just yet… "Well, what do you mean?"

"Well, you know…" Cameron said, rubbing his arm and looking away sheepishly, "Do you, uh… Do you think she's pretty and stuff…?"

Now I knew my face was red. "Well, I… I do think she's pretty… But um…" I saw Cameron looking at me funny and I swallowed. "I like Jo, sure," I told him. But then I asked warily, "What about you…?"

Cameron blinked and I saw his cheeks darken. "Well," he squeaked, "I thought I did… But she was really mean to me, you know… I guess… Well, I'm definitely amazed by all the stuff she can do, but… I don't think I like her anymore… I just… admire her…" He smiled sheepishly at me and asked, "Is that a good word?"

"Yeah," I replied, practically melting with relief. I had been so terrified of hearing that Cameron liked Jo. It didn't seem like it fit… But, now that I had felt like my arms were going to tear with how tense and tight my muscles had knotted, I knew that I didn't just think Jo was incredible in fitness. There was more there…

We sat in there for a while, and then Mike left us after taking a nap, and I heard him outside for a little while… Then he came back inside when it was dark out, and he went to bed. Cameron and I sat and chatted for a while, but eventually I heard a soft creak outside and I walked to the door of the guys' side of our cabin. I smiled when I saw Jo sitting on the steps. I stepped outside and sat beside her. She didn't react in any way, but I did notice that she had a drawing in her hands.

I was incredibly confused at what I saw- a drawing of Mike and Zoey kissing. Now I was worried… "Why do you have a drawing of Mike and Zoey kissing?"

Jo blinked and looked at me for a moment. She seemed to be in a daze, but that made her eyes look even prettier… Eventually she replied, "Oh, um, it's my motivation picture for my punching bag… I forgot my picture of Chris back home, so I needed something else that I wanted to punch…"

I found that a little bit odd. But I looked at her and the drawing and asked, "Why don't you like them?"

"It's not them specifically," she replied, then she said, "Okay, well, I don't find either of them particularly useful…" I smiled. Jo sure was her own person… "But that's beside the point… I just get annoyed with them making goo-goo eyes constantly. One of these days their relationship is gonna mess up a challenge and we'll be the ones paying for it…" My smile fell as she talked. So is that how Jo viewed them?

I watched her sit there for a little while. "Why have you been following me?" the question startled me. I sincerely hoped my brain wouldn't go stupid again.

I blinked and felt my face go hot. "Wh-what? What gave you the idea that I was following you?"

She frowned at me and said, "Dude, you've been practically stalking me since we got her. I keep seeing you look at me." Now I felt like a stalker. Had I really been following her? Oh, geeze, was I really that obvious?

Trying to make an excuse, I began, "W-well I j-just noticed that y-you were a really athletic g-girl and uh…" But I didn't know what else to say. She'd know. She'd find out. She'd be able to see it. As if today didn't make me feel pathetic enough…!

"You just thought I might make a good rival…?" she finished the idea for me and I mentally was kissing her with thanks.

"Uh, y-yeah!" I stammered, excitedly, "You're a great rival!" I felt like hitting myself again. Being around Jo made me feel so stupid, because I just couldn't think around her!

"Alright Dampy-Pants," she said, smirking at me. I blinked and blushed deeply with embarrassment. That wasn't funny! But then she left me where I was. I folded my arms across my chest and sat fuming for a little while in my embarrassment. Really wishing Chris hadn't revealed that secret… Kind of wishing the challenge had ended sooner. Because now, I had a feeling that Jo wasn't going to let up on the pants wetting…

**Mm… I have no comment…**


End file.
